


The Mountain by the Beach

by betheflame



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: 5+1 Things, Canon Rewrite, Canon's There If You Squint, Domestic Avengers, Forgiveness, Happy Ending, M/M, Minor Darcy Lewis/Steve Rogers, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sappy, Tissue Warning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:55:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21822523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/betheflame/pseuds/betheflame
Summary: Or: the 5 times that Tony and Bucky marked Dec 16th as partners and the 1 time they did it as dads.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark
Comments: 33
Kudos: 162





	The Mountain by the Beach

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Marie for wailing in our Discord chat at the appropriate places. 
> 
> Happy WinterIron Day, everyone.

**One**

“Should I say something?”

Steve raised an eyebrow at Bucky and went back to reading his book. “He’s your boyfriend.”

“Yeah, but you know him better.”

Steve let out a deep sigh and put his book down. “Buck, I have known you for basically my entire life and you have never been this weird about a boy before. It’s just Tony.”

“Do you remember what tomorrow is?” Bucky made a face at Steve.

“It’s Wednesday.”

“And?”

“It’s the 16th,” Steve started and then paused, “of December.”

“Thank you,” Bucky said, flopping back onto the couch. “It’s the first Murderaversary we’ve been together for and I have no idea what to do.”

“I’m assuming you’ve already checked Etsy for an appropriate gift?”

Bucky chucked a throw pillow at Steve’s head. “Will you please take this seriously?”

“I am!” Steve protested. “But I genuinely don’t know what you want me to say! Your brainwashed body murdered his parents. Obviously, he’s forgiven you since you guys are… whatevering.”

“We’re fucking, Steven, you can say the word, even if you’re not familiar with the concept.”

Steve flipped him off. “First of all, fuck off. Second of all, fuck off again.”

“So you think Darcy hasn’t caught you staring at her yet?”

“Do you want my help with Stark or do you want to yank my chain about Darce?”

“I’m skilled at multitasking,” Bucky grinned, but sobered quickly. “Seriously, help?”

Steve sighed and ran his hand over his face. “What if you did something, just the two of you? Something small, quiet even, something you guys don’t do with anyone else. Like the Air & Space Museum down in D.C. or something. Redeem the day.”

“Redeem the day,” Bucky repeated. “I can do that.”

“Are we done here? Because I’m about to find out who killed Amy.”

Bucky checked the title of the book. “Oh, I don’t think you are, pal. Pepper was ranting about that one at breakfast last week.”

“Well, don’t spoil it! Get out of here and plan your Murderaversary date.”

* * *

The very first real conversation that Bucky and Tony had ever had alone was about three months after Steve had brought Bucky back to the Tower. Bruce and Tony had called in every expert they knew on brainwashing - and were pleasantly surprised that one of the foremost experts was a princess from the middle of the African continent - and had made serious progress on freeing Bucky from his programming. Bucky could go for about five days without triggers, and they’d been able to identify and deactivate the keywords that rendered Bucky a passenger in his own body.

It had been late one evening, more early morning if the pair were honest, and Bucky had wandered into Tony’s workshop to find him tinkering with updates on his arm.

_“Whuddya doing with the arm?”_

_Tony startled and turned towards Bucky’s voice. “I don’t like the sound it makes when you try to grasp something gently, like glass. I think there’s a spring that’s loose. You took it off earlier and I figured this was prime time to get my hands on it.”_

_Bucky stepped closer. “What other things have you tinkered with when I’ve had it off?”_

_“Honestly, nothing major,” Tony promised. “I wouldn’t do that without your permission. It’s been mostly scans and tests so I can build the new one.”_

_“The new one?”_

_Tony blinked. “Did you think I was going to let you actually keep outdated Hydra tech upon your person? Please, I know we don’t know each other that well, but please.” He turned back to the arm and picked up a screwdriver._

_“Plus this one killed your dad.”_

_It was out of Bucky’s mouth before he could stop it and Tony’s entire body froze. The air between the pair was thick and Bucky was afraid to breathe. Finally, Tony put down the screwdriver and turned his full body towards Bucky. “It did. You didn’t. You wouldn’t be here if you did.”_

_“I’m so sorry, Tony,” Bucky whispered, not surprised to feel tears gathered in his eyes. “I’m just so sorry.”_

_“Stop,” Tony held up his hand. “I can’t handle that. Your faces are the same and so I can’t… You and I are good. I promise.”_

_“Can you forgive me?”_

_“You, yes. I can forgive you for falling off a train and getting kidnapped, that was really dumb of you and you shouldn’t have done that,” Tony replied with a straight face. “I will never forgive Hydra for what they did to you and what they made your body do to my parents.”_

_Bucky nodded and cleared his throat. Changing the subject, he idly picked up one of the StarkPads laying on the workbench. “Stevie ever tell ya what we did the night before I shipped out?”_

_“You went to Howard’s Expo,” Tony replied. “Come on, Frosty the Soldierman, everyone knows that.”_

_“Yeah, but did Stevie ever tell ya why?”_

_Tony paused and cocked his head. “No, actually.”_

_“It’s because I’ve always wanted to go to space,” Bucky replied. “I didn’t have enough pocket money to buy all the comics and serials - everything we had went to food, rent, and medicine - but the Brooklyn Public Library had some of the early sci-fi stuff. Oh man, Tony, I ate it up. I couldn’t believe humans were smart enough to do that, or that there was that much of the universe still left to explore.”_

_“And now you hang out with a Norse god,” Tony snorted._

_“And now I hang out with a Norse god, my best friend is a walking science experiment, and the guy whose house I live in built a suit that flies,” Bucky smiled. “It’s pretty wild.”_

_Tony was quiet for a moment before he looked directly into Bucky’s eyes. “I’m going to get you to space, James. Mark my words, by the time we’re done with this Avenging nonsense, I’m going to take you to space.”_

_“Sounds swell, Anthony. Sounds downright swell,” Bucky smirked and the moment was broken._

About a year from that night was when Bucky kissed Tony for the first time, and no one on the team was particularly surprised. Both of them knew what it was like to not control your own life, or your own body, both men were absolute nerds, and both of them were too sarcastic to function most days.

Steve was just proud that they’d managed to actually use their words, since he was pretty fucking sick of watching them moon over each other and using him as the middle man.

* * *

“You want to do what?”

Bucky rubbed the back of his neck with his non-metal hand, which Tony had learned was a sure sign his boyfriend of six months was nervous. It had become especially more apparent since Bucky had cut his hair short - which had deeply grieved Tony for visual purposes, but he understood Bucky’s need to look more in control of himself. “I think we should get out of town and do something together.”

“But it’s just a Wednesday.”

Bucky closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Jarvis?”

“Sir, if I may,” the AI responded crisply. “Today’s date is December 15th.”

Understanding dawned on Tony’s face. “Fuck, I swore it was the 12th. Yes, let’s get out of here tomorrow.”

“Can I plan it?”

Tony licked his lips like he was biting back a comment and Bucky stepped forward. “No, tell me what you were going to say.”

“Well,” Tony smirked, “I was going to say the reason we’ll be gathered tomorrow is your fault, so it’s kinda your day anyway.”

Bucky snorted. “Tin canned asshole.”

“Swiss cheese brain matter.”

The pair grinned at each other and Tony grabbed the front of Bucky’s shirt and pulled him in for a kiss. When they broke apart, Tony lowered his voice. “James Buchanan Barnes, I told you six months ago that the only one responsible for my parents’ deaths is Hydra and I meant it then and I mean it now. I like the idea of having a day with you, but if you are going to spend the whole day moping and trying to make it up to me, then I’d rather we forget it.”

“No moping,” Bucky whispered. “More rockets.”

Tony’s eyes brightened. “The Annex?”

Bucky kissed Tony’s nose. “Wheels up at 0630, Stark. Called in a few favors and we have the whole place to ourselves for two hours. Better get your beauty sleep.”

“I’m already too beautiful for words,” Tony responded.

“Ain’t that the truth,” Bucky replied sincerely, causing Tony’s cheeks to pink with blush.

* * *

The best part of the day, Tony decided as he and Bucky climbed into bed that night, was the look of sheer wonder on Bucky’s face. They’d started at the Air and Space Annex - which housed not only one of NASA’s Space Shuttles, but a stealth bomber and many historic aircrafts - and Bucky wasn’t lying when he said they’d be alone. Besides several of the docents who answered Bucky’s questions and let them get in a few of the aircrafts, they were all by themselves in the massive space.

Once their time was up, they took the jet back up to Manhattan, where Bucky had arranged a movie marathon of their favorite space themed movies and delivery of Tony’s favorite foods. They spent the entire day cuddled under blankets and Tony couldn’t remember the last time he felt so at peace.

“How has my phone stayed quiet all day?” Tony asked Bucky around 2pm.

“Oh, Pep blocked your number for the day,” Bucky replied.

“She what now?”

“I asked her and Jarvis to hold all your calls, that today was our day. If there was a genuine emergency, she knew how to get a hold of us, but she told me to just take you and make you happy. So did I?”

Tony bit his lip and shook his head in wonder. “You make me happy every day, but today was definitely special.”

Bucky preened under the praise but then pointed back to the screen. “Now shuddup, Matt Damon’s about to grow potatoes on Mars.”

“Hey sweetheart,” Tony said quietly as he crawled in next to Bucky.

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

Bucky pulled Tony close and kissed him for a long time. “I know I can never make today not today, but maybe we can make it something else, too.”

“It’s our day,” Tony replied. “From here on out. Jarvis, mark it down.”

“Of course, sir.”

* * *

**Two**

“No.”

“Bucky,” Tony whined. “It’ll be fun!”

“No,” Bucky said calmly. “It’ll be fun for you and I’ll be thinking about how I’d rather eat my own toenails than be there.”

Tony huffed but acquiesced. “All right. I’ll strike Monte Carlo from the list.”

The pair were trying to plan their 3rd Tony & Bucky Day - which Tony insisted needed a better name and wanted to get the SI Branding Department on the case, but Bucky refused - and were struggling.

Year one had been space day, year two had seen them on Tony’s private Caribbean island, but they were at a loss for year three.

“What about something Christmasy?” Bucky asked. “Like those markets in Europe or something?”

“That’s pretty public,” Tony made a face.

“Well,” Bucky took a deep breath and looked Tony. “My name’s been clear for a while, and this seems to be going pretty good, so what if everyone knew we were together?”

Tony blinked rapidly. “You’re finally taking me off the leash? I get to tell the whole world that I landed the hottest soldier alive?”

“Darcy will fight you for that honorific, I think,” Bucky laughed, “but yes. I’m ready.”

Tony was frozen for a second before calling out orders to Jarvis and punching things into his phone. Bucky laughed and pulled his boyfriend towards him.

“Hey, genius,” Bucky whispered into his ear, “slow your roll.”

“Well, that’s very trendy lingo, Mr. Barnes,” Tony replied.

“Peter’s been sending me YouTube videos,” Bucky said. “It’s still three months off. What the hell did you just have Jarvis do?”

“Sergeant,” Jarvis interrupted, “if I may. I have been keeping track of all of the internet rumors of Sir’s paramours for many years and the rumors surrounding the two of you since the Captain’s engagement to Ms. Lewis have strengthened exponentially. I have compiled three separate strategic plans for how to ensure your relationship is leaked appropriately.”

Bucky shook his head. “So we’re done with the strategizing now?”

“Oh, Jarvis and I have a few more -”

Tony was cut off when Bucky’s lips pressed to his. “You were saying?” Bucky murmured against Tony’s mouth just before he began to nibble along Tony’s jaw.

“Plan’s set and my schedule is clear,” Tony replied.

“That’s what I thought.”

* * *

**Three**

“FUCK YOU,” Tony roared. “I DID NOT AGREE TO THAT.”

Bucky pinched the bridge of his nose. “You are acting like a child, Anthony.”

“Oh, am I?” Tony taunted. “AM I? I’m forty five goddamn years old, but since you’re, what, 98, I suppose I am a child. What a cradle robber that makes you, Barnes. Are you happy now?”

“What the hell is this about?” Bucky was bewildered. “I came down to tell you to get ready for the gala and all of a sudden I have a screaming fiancé and all the bots are cowering in the corner.”

“Nothing is wrong except that you’re a controlling ass! I am perfectly capable of remembering to get dressed for my own mother’s gala, and also remembering that I _never_ agreed to make a speech because I _don’t_ make speeches at my mother’s gala, I never have, and I never will, and you should know that if you love me,” Tony snarled. “DUM-E, get over here. No, U, you stay, just DUM-E. Come on, hop-along, I don’t got all day.”

“Tony -”

“Are you still here?”

Bucky inhaled to the count of three and exhaled the same. Tony had been tetchy lately - everyone had noticed, but no one knew what to do. This, however, was a whole new level.

“Jarvis, freeze protocol,” Bucky called and Tony snapped around, clearly spoiling for a fight. “I have no idea what your problem is, Tony, or why I’m suddenly your number one enemy in life because I’m your goddamn fiancé and six weeks ago, when you said yes, everything was fine. It’s like a fucking switch flipped in you and right now I don’t even care because we have four minutes before you absolutely have to be in the shower and getting ready so that we can wear our matching tuxes and our matching smiles and go out there for the world’s media and honor your mother and her wishes that your life would be dedicated to helping sick children. Whatever crawled up your ass is nothing compared to the kids whose lives we’re trying to save tonight, so drop the drama queen act and get your ass in the shower and I will see you in the foyer in exactly twenty-five minutes, so help you God.”

Tony stared back and responded with a snort. “I’ll go for the sick kids, Barnes - don’t think I’m doing this to make you happy.”

“Wouldn’t fucking _dream_ of it, Stark,” Bucky responded and stormed off into the elevator.

* * *

The night went _fine_. Pepper and Bucky had both prepared their friends to be extra schmoozy that night so that no one would pick up on the fact that something was off with Tony. They raised about $14M for pediatric cancer research and Bucky had only wanted to kill his fiancé three times. Tony was even vaguely sober and no one had inappropriately groped Darcy, Nat, or Pepper. All in all, a successful evening.

He readied himself for bed, not even bothering to ask Tony if he was going to join him - he hadn’t in three weeks. He was surprised, however, to hear the shower running in their bathroom. Tony had been showering mostly in the workshop.

There was a strange echo and Bucky’s super soldier senses pinged. He made his way slowly to their ensuite and then it hit him: the noise was _crying_. As he entered the room, he saw Tony curled in a ball on the floor of the shower, absolutely _sobbing_.

Without thinking, he opened the shower door and climbed in right next to Tony and pulled the sobbing man into his arms. He was muttering something that Bucky couldn't hear over the shower.

“I’m going to turn the water off, baby,” Bucky murmured. Tony made a movement that Bucky interpreted as a nod and he asked Jarvis to shut off the water. “Can I carry you to bed?” Again, the movement indicated permission and Bucky moved quickly to gather some towels to wrap Tony in and bundled them both into the overstuffed armchair that sat in the corner of their room. Bucky had found it in a secondhand shop in Brooklyn the year before - worn-in leather and big enough to fit both of them.

“I saw you,” Tony rasped. “Nightmare, I saw you, but it wasn’t the Winter Soldier, it was you.”

Bucky closed his eyes and pressed his head to Tony’s. “Oh, baby, that’s…”

“It was so real,” tears clouded Tony’s voice. “I thought I was over this, I thought I was better. I haven’t had a nightmare about Afghanistan in months and not about this in over a year. I was fixed.”

“You know that’s not how this works,” Bucky whispered.

“Why not?” Tony’s voice was petulant, but he knew Bucky was right.

“Because trauma rewires your brain, baby. It takes our motherboard and scrambles it. You’re just at the front of the mountain again today and, honestly, I’m not surprised.”

“Why’s that?”

“Today’s 25 years, baby,” Bucky whispered and Tony let out a wail and burrowed deeper into Bucky’s embrace.

Since Bucky had come back to himself, he’d become a bit of an armchair academic and his favorite topic was trauma. He went to conferences, read books, interviewed experts, and Tony was trying to get him to think about some formal research training so he could investigate his curiosity further. At one of those conferences, Bucky had ended up having drinks with an American PhD student who was studying secondary trauma in countries where there was armed conflict.

_“Imagine,” she told Bucky as she swirled her gin and tonic in her hand, “a conical mountain next to a beach. Trauma is a giant, undulating evil creature that’s on the beach. It’s tangible - you can smell it, and feel it, and you know in your body what it feels like when it attaches itself to you. Finally, eventually, with the help of others, you make your way off the beach and see there’s a path up the mountain. Those first steps are the hardest - you can’t really remember how to walk without the thing attached to you. The creature has reshaped you, but you slowly learn and you make progress and pretty soon you’re off the beach and making your way up the path.”_

_“The path that goes around the mountain? Like, am I picturing an ice cream cone?” Bucky clarified._

_“Yes!” She grinned and tapped her glass to his in a ‘cheers’ motion. “So you’re walking and you get around the back of the mountain for the first time - and it feels like a new life. You can breathe easier, and the trauma monster feels so far away and everything is fine. But what happens next?”_

_Bucky grinned wryly. “You have to go around the front of the mountain again.”_

_She nodded and smiled sadly. “You do. And for the rest of forever, you’re always going around the front of the mountain again. Something will smell a certain way, or a sound will go off, or you’ll remember a moment. The further up the mountain you go, the less visceral the pain is, but it’s still there. You’re a different person after wrestling that monster on the beach. The process of walking up the mountain is the process of figuring out exactly what that means.”_

“So we’re at the front of the mountain again,” Bucky continued, petting Tony’s hair. “That’s all this is. You’re not broken, you’re not weak, I’m not ashamed to be yours. It’s just the front of the mountain.”

They sat like that for a long while, Bucky murmuring words of love and affection, Tony alternating between sobs and silence.

“I miss her,” Tony whispered after a bit. “As we’re planning this wedding, as I’m thinking about it all… I even miss him. I want them to know you and I want our kids to have grandparents and it’s all just so fucking unfair and I miss them.”

“Well, Stevie’s pretty old,” Bucky quipped. “They can call him grandpa.”

Tony snorted and shifted so he was looking right into Bucky’s eyes. “You’re one of the reasons I can stay on the mountain and not on the beach.”

“Feeling’s mutual, pal,” Bucky whispered and kissed Tony gently. When he pulled back, he pressed their foreheads together. “Food?”

“Please,” Tony whispered.

“Your ma’s meatballs are in the fridge, does that sound good or too much?”

“It sounds perfect.”

* * *

**Four**

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate the covenant of Anthony Edward Stark and James Buchanan Barnes,” Steve grinned out at the crowd. “And I, for one, could not be more thrilled.”

The crowd was small - only about fifty people - and they were all gathered in the living room of a mountain cabin Tony and Bucky had purchased the year before. There was a fresh layer of snow on the ground and the early winter sun glistened off the icicles on the trees.

Steve continued the ceremony, using a hybrid of traditional liturgy and his own anecdotes until it came time for the boys to say their own vows.

“Tony, do you want to start?”

Tony’s hands shook slightly as he took the note cards from his pocket, glanced at them quickly and the stuffed them back on. “I’m winging this, who am I kidding?” Bucky laughed and Tony’s smile widened.

“Buckaroo, I wrote, like, six drafts of what to say right now and I still can’t quite capture what you mean to me. I had Jarvis look up all these sappy sonnets and stuff people usually read at weddings, but we’ve known for a long time that other people’s words were never gonna work for us.”

Bucky sniffed back some tears and interrupted. “‘Sorry I was a murder puppet but thanks for loving me anyway’ isn’t among Hallmark’s best sellers.”

“Not so much,” Tony replied as the crowd chuckled good naturedly. “But I did see this one quote that made me pause. It’s from C.S. Lewis and he said the definition of friendship is when you look at someone and go ‘oh, you too? I thought I was the only one’. And that’s, to me, what you are. You make me know I’m not alone. I thought I was the only one who could live my life because surely I’m too much for anyone else, but you…”

“I’m glitter, baby,” Bucky replied. “I ain’t going nowhere, no matter how hard you scrub.”

“You know, vows aren’t really a conversation,” Tony replied.

“Since when do we do anything the way we’re supposed to?”

Steve snorted and the pair looked at him. “Oh, the answer to that is never, just in case you were wondering.”

Tony rolled his eyes and looked back at Bucky. “So, here’s what I promise. I promise to let you in more, and I promise to stick to you, too. I promise to walk the mountain paths with you, to wrestle the monsters on the beaches, and to carry you when you can’t take another step. I promise to always choose you for as long as you’ll have me, and far beyond that.”

“I’ll have you forever,” Bucky responded quietly, and used his thumb to wipe a tear from Tony’s eye. “I’ll have you forever.” He pressed a kiss to Tony’s forehead and then looked at Steve. “My turn, Stevie?”

“Like I’m running this at all anymore?”

“Good,” Bucky looked back at his almost-husband. “You know, there are lots of days where we’re Tony and Bucky - the public bits of us, both to our friends and to the papers and all that. And I love you on those days - even when I don’t like you, or your choices - I love you. But then there are those days where we’re Anthony and James - the names our mothers called us. Those days, my sweetheart, those days are just me and you and those days are my favorite. They’re the days I think of as ‘ours’. My vow to you is to be James to you as much as possible, to call out the best parts of you with the best parts of me. I vow to walk those paths and wrestle the monsters, too, even the ones we don’t get paid to fight.”

Tony chuckled. “Remember, I don’t get paid. SHIELD can’t afford me.”

“No one can afford you, baby,” Bucky smiled softly. “That you give yourself freely is what I love.”

“Oh fuck you, turning my joke into something lovely and sappy,” Tony breathed out on a shaky voice and their family laughed.

“Gotta keep you on your toes, genius,” Bucky said fondly. “But yeah. We chose this day to do this because it’s always been an Anthony and James day anyway. One final act of redemption to change the story we can tell about our family. Stevie told me we were being morbid -”

“I still think you are,” the man himself interrupted.

“But Darcy and Nat said they understood and they’re smarter than he is anyway,” Bucky finished.

“True,” Darcy replied from the front row as her husband rolled his eyes.

“So, today, on December 16th, I vow to you to always fight for us. To always chose us as a unit, as a team, as a family. I love you, Anthony Edward, in all your forms and for all my days.”

“I love you, James Buchanan, in all your forms and for all my days,” Tony replied.

They stood there, grinning like idiots for a minute, each running their fingers over the rings that now sat on their fingers until Steve cleared his throat. They looked over at him to see tears gathering in his eyes as well as he said his final bit. “By the power vested in me by the State of New York and the trust you both placed in me, I now pronounce you married. By all means, kiss your man.”

The crowd hooted and hollered as both of them did just that. As the opening riff of The Romantics’ tune “What I Like About You” sounded over the speakers, Tony pulled back slightly and whispered in Bucky’s ear. “I love you, husband.”

Bucky kissed him again, firmly and briefly. “Back at you, husband. Right back at you.”

* * *

**Five**

“I can’t this year,” Bucky muttered, his face flat down in the pillow. “I just can’t.”

“You can’t do anything?” Tony clarified. “You can’t be married to me anymore?”

“No,” Bucky huffed, turning his face. “Drama queen, no. I just… I feel it today. The memories feel too close to the surface, the nightmares are too real. I just can’t do anything today.”

Tony wasn’t particularly surprised that Bucky was feeling scraped raw. The last several missions he’d been called on were long and involved rescuing trafficked children. Bucky’d had a few Red Room flashbacks and he and Nat had gone on a couple of looooooong runs that Tony knew better than to ask too many questions about. Their anniversary being what it was meant that each year it was a double edged sword - both the best parts of Bucky’s life and the worst. They’d made that decision intentionally and they knew the emotional risks, but Tony never regretted it.

Until, maybe, today.

“Front of the mountain days are the worst,” Tony lazily scratched up and down Bucky’s spine the way he loved.

Bucky grunted an assent.

“So, maybe we just watch movies and order an embarrassing amount of Chinese food, and let Jarvis screen our calls?”

Bucky turned his head so that one eye peered at Tony. “Can there be cuddling?”

“Mandatory,” Tony replied.

“Acceptable plan, Stark. Execute.”

“Bossypants,” Tony said in a faux-scandalized voice.

“You like it,” Bucky replied, flopping himself around so that he was laying on his side and curled towards his husband.

“I fucking adore it,” Tony whispered, kissing Bucky soundly.

* * *

**Plus One**

Bucky held Tony’s hand tight as the clock struck midnight on December 16th. “Wouldn’t it be wild if her birthday was today?”

Tony laughed softly. They’d been prepared for this when Sarah had told them her due date, but it was still surreal. That his daughter would be born on the same his day his parents died felt too on the nose. “It’s going to be, I can feel it.”

Not two hours later, the doctor came out to tell them that their surrogate had indeed given birth to a healthy, 9lb, 8oz baby girl who they named Maria Winnifred Stark. Later, as Bucky held her close while Tony wrapped himself around them both, Bucky whispered, “what will we tell her about her birthday?”

“Well,” Tony breathed into his husband’s ear, “we’ll tell her about forgiveness, and pain. We’ll tell her about how love really is the most powerful force in the universe and how everyone gets second chances. And we’ll tell her about her grandmothers, who raised us to be kind men, even though we lost our way a little bit.”

Bucky didn’t bother to stem the tears. “And we’ll tell her about the mountain and the beach. We’ll tell her how you can’t ever climb alone, but how the dream of her is what kept us going on the days it was too hard.”

“I think those are pretty good things to tell her,” Tony rasped. “I love you, James.”

“And I love you, Anthony,” Bucky smiled through his tears. “And your daddy loves you, Maria.”

“And so does your papa, Maria. And so does your Auntie Pep, and your Uncle Steve, and your Aunt Darcy, and your Aunt Nat, and your -”

“If you list everyone who loves her, we’ll be here all night,” Bucky smirked.

“God, what a problem to have,” Tony marveled. “Two orphans raising a child in a family so large we can’t list them off the top of our heads.”

“Worth climbing those mountains for,” Bucky replied and asked Tony to take a few more pictures to text out to their family.

And so, December 16th remained the most important day in the lives of Bucky Barnes and Tony Stark, but for more reasons than they had once ever dared to dream.  
  


**Author's Note:**

> The theory of trauma is mine. Feel free to use as necessary. 
> 
> Find me on [Twitter](http://www.twitter.com/betheflame1) or [Tumblr](http://betheflame.tumblr.com) for more on these yahoos. You can also submit prompts and cajole me into writing faster - it usually works. If you're on Discord, I'm definitely there, too, and probably hanging in the [Stony](https://discord.gg/z5WSqbS) or [Stuckony](https://discord.gg/jtXcc3n) servers.


End file.
